The S rank journey

[highwind44029]

Yeah, when you get Eugene you don't have much use for Dodge since he'll be soaking up everything. It's a nice backup for when he's not in range though.

Btw, if you grind too much in the Obel Ruins you might have a hard time getting S ranks in El-Eal and other maps that are only accessible a few times in the game, since levels are fixed in the storyline battles.

[Wolkendrache]

There are so many strategic uses for Extra Move:

1. Increase Speed: I’m talking about the time you need to finish a level. If everyone has Extra Move you’re faster, because enemies approach in waves, and with Extra Move you have a full move forward and can take an action on your way.
2. Make way: If an enemy is only attackable from 1 side (e.g. on a 1-grid corridor), you can attack and make way for the next attacker. You still have mages and archers, but you don’t need to rely on them.
3. Avoid damage: Simple. Kill and move out of the attack range of the next enemies that draw near. Likewise, if an Earth Dragon loaded an Earthquake spell, you don’t want to be bunched after a kill, so use extra move to spread your characters. Furthermore, have Noah steal from an enemy and draw back behind the frontline; or move Cedric to the frontline to use an item (heal or status cure or beads) on an ally and immediately move him back out of the danger zone.
4. Reduce damage while killing: You can build a line of characters so that enemies can only attack you from the front and only 1 character per turn. Then, with Extra Move, you can attack the enemies from the back or side and move back into the defense line afterwards. Moreover, if you stand on your terrain, you can leave it, attack, then return to your terrain or march to the next one.

If I had to choose between Extra Move and Godspeed, the only character on which I’d prefer Godspeed was Rene. Most of the above advantages apply to fighters, especially melee fighters. Because of the special spell+ExtraMove mechanics, mages greatly benefit from it. Ema, Gary, Carrie, Yu and Rene don’t benefit as much from it as the others, but it’s still useful.

Extra Move for the win!

@gildedtalon: As your 4. Skill Dodge is ok for melee fighters. Archers should learn Bull’s Eye, mages need concentration as soon as you get 3rd lv spells. Jump is necessary for mages in a few levels, and for fighters it can increase movement in some levels. As for exploring the ruins, better wait until after the 2nd battle at El-Eal.

[gildedtalon]

Yeah, when you get Eugene you don't have much use for Dodge since he'll be soaking up everything. It's a nice backup for when he's not in range though.

Btw, if you grind too much in the Obel Ruins you might have a hard time getting S ranks in El-Eal and other maps that are only accessible a few times in the game, since levels are fixed in the storyline battles.

You're the only one using Eugene?
As for grinding in Obel Ruins, I didn't get any experience at all. 2000 potch(1000 from finishing with C rank+Bronze Medal) every visit and 100 skill points

@gildedtalon: As your 4. Skill Dodge is ok for melee fighters. Archers should learn Bull’s Eye

Okay, so you do not use dodge for archers and mages at this early stage. By default, Flare got Dodge and Mizuki got Mind's Eye
For the 4th skill for mages(Extra Move, Godspeed, elemental Magic) Concentration, is it worth levelling or should I just focus on Dodge and Mind's Eye?

Since Eugene is unique, how do you prioritize his skills? Flare never gets Extra Move, do you get problems using her?

[Wolkendrache]

Here’s what I usually do…

Mages:
1. Elemental Magic
2. Extra Move
3. Godspeed
4. Concentration (not necessary until you use Lv3 spells or higher elemental runes)
5. Jump (necessary/useful in some levels like Obel 5)
6. Any skill for avoiding damage (Dodge, Mind’s eye)
Notes: Pablo is an exception, I give him a Fire Rune, so I put points into Fire magic instead of Earth. As long as you don’t need Jump and Concentration you could temporarily use an evade skill as your 4th skill, but don’t waste too many points for it. Runes: 1. Element Rune, 2. Magicboost, 3. Gale.

Melee Fighters:
1. Battle Lust
2. Extra Move
3. Godspeed
4. Dodge, Mind’s Eye, Parry, Guard, Armor Defense, or Shield Defense
5. Jump
6. Dodge, Mind’s Eye, Parry, Guard, Armor Defense, or Shield Defense
Notes: I don’t use the Counter skills since they messed up my treasure hunt when I was actually trying to keep a foe alive. Cross-Counter is brutal, but the normal Counter skill would rather lower your average damage. If you’re careful you could use it, but I prefer the damage avoiding/reducing skills. Fist users should have Bull’s Eye as the 4th skill. Runes: 1. Weapon Command Rune, 2. Elemental Sword, 3. Gale, with some exception like Mizuki who doesn’t need more speed, so I give her a Strengthboost Rune (even if she doesn’t benefit much from it).

Archers:
1. Battle Lust
2. Extra Move
3. Godspeed
4. Bull’s Eye or Sniper, I actually forgot…
5. Dodge or Mind’s Eye
6. Jump, Dodge or Mind’s Eye
Notes: I’m using Bull’s Eye or Sniper only until I got at least 2 2nd level spells (see below). Runes: 1. Weapon Command Rune, 2. Elemental Sword, 3. Gale.

Support Characters:
1. Specialty
2. Extra Move
3. Godspeed
4. Jump
5. Dodge or Mind’s Eye
6. Dodge or Mind’s Eye
Runes: Gale, Skunk, Sunbeam
What about accuracy skills? I only use command rune attacks. The bad thing about it is: I never land a critical hit. The good thing is: I have 100% accuracy, so the berserk belt has no drawback anymore (try to get as much as early as possible), and the enemy can never evade, parry or counter-attack, ergo I hardly need to rely on luck. I don’t need to worry about running out of magic points, because after 2-3 hits you normally level up and everything’s restored. However, archers must wait for the 2nd level spell, and fist users must wait for the 3rd level, that’s why I put points into Bull’s Eye or Sniper at the beginning (until rank C or B) for these. If you don’t use this fighting style, you should max out Sniper and/or Bull’s Eye for most fighters, and you could think about putting points into Critical Hit.

Since Eugene is unique, how do you prioritize his skills? Flare never gets Extra Move, do you get problems using her?

Eugene, same treatment as the others, but I should add that I neither use him very often nor as a punching bag. Flare is very fast and has a good unite attack with Corselia, so she's still useful. Otherwise she wouldn't even be a second tier character imo.

[gildedtalon]

Are there unlimited Skunk runes? Does Chiepoo always sell Sunbeam rune no matter what his condition is?
Battle Lust is useless on Kika and Mizuki very soon, right?

[Wolkendrache]

I forgot, but support characters usually get only 1 open rune slot, and I choose gale first. I don't even know how the Firefly and Skunk runes exactly work. Skunk: Enemies don't attack the character unless they can (1-hit) kill it. Firefly: Enemies attack that character unless they can (1-hit) kill another one. But I'm not sure.

Why is Battle Lust useless on them? It just adds AT, it applies to any form of physical attack. Don't get confused by the special animations of normal attacks.

[gildedtalon]

AT=Attack Time?, you mean Battle Lust also boosts the damage of those weapon command runes? I thought it only applies to normal attacks

[Wolkendrache]

AT=Attack. Yes, it applies to command rune attacks as well.

[highwind44029]

I usually max out Critical Hit and Sniper for Seneca and Flare since the crit chance stacks.

Eugene's probably one the easiest and fastest characters to build as he's straightforward defensive and the skill points required to max out his skills is really low. I usually do Dodge > Bull's Eye (no need to max, C or B is enough) > Guard > Counterattack. Battle Lust is not necessary since he'll be soaking hits on an Armored Kangacorn. What I usually do is have Cedric as a starting character, use him to go far into the middle of the battlefield, then switch out Eugene to soak hits while my archers/mages do work. Corselia's enough to keep him alive with her Level 2 Water Magic.

Also, I don't remember mages having the Jump skill at all. Maxine has a natural JMP stat of 2, the rest have 1, although I'm not sure about Roget.

[gildedtalon]

All mages can learn the jump skill. You can protect a sleeping person and he/she will wake up

[Antimatzist]

I only use Eugene in some battles in which Rene needs special protection, he distracts the enemy.

For me, mages worked with only Elemental Magic + Extra Move + Godspeed (if available). Concentration is pretty useless when they spam spells fom the back of your frontline, as they never get attacked anyway when you're cautious.

Another difference between Wolkendrache and me is that I rarely use the special attack runes. He's right about ccuracy, but with the accuracy skills you won't have much prolems. Also, your TECH gets retty good pretty soon which helps a lot. But using the special attack runes for low level characters is a good idea so they can definitely kill an enemy!

[gildedtalon]

Enemies from quests follow our levels, right?

Worst thing that can happen, exit blocked off

[Wolkendrache]

Iirc all mages start at Jump 1, and all of them can learn Jump except Jeane and Simeon.

Enemies from quests follow our levels, right?

Worst thing that can happen, exit blocked off

Cross-counter on Trishtan - dead.

Quest enemies follow Kyril's level afaik. The mercenaries are always about 3 or more levels higher than Kyril.

[gildedtalon]

What's the lowest level you've done the elemental chambers?

[gildedtalon]

Iirc all mages start at Jump 1, and all of them can learn Jump except Jeane and Simeon.

Maxine starts at Jump 2